Travel's AI reality check: Discovery is changing, but ensuring your inventory meets demand is more important than ever
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Leighton recently conducted independent research into the adoption of AI-powered travel discovery, exploring conversational search, agentic booking and the future of customer acquisition and conversion.
As part of our research, we spoke with Kasia Michalska, Chief Product and Technology Officer at On the Beach, about how AI is influencing traveller behaviour, the role of large language models (LLMs) in holiday planning, and why travel brands should focus on capabilities that cannot easily be replicated by emerging technologies.
For decades, travellers have sought inspiration from a wide range of sources; word of mouth from friends and family, travel magazines, search engines, social media, and review platforms have all played a role in shaping people’s holiday decisions. Now, AI and conversational search have joined that ecosystem.
AI is not fundamentally changing the customer need, but it’s increasingly becoming another mechanism through which customers make their decisions. There has always been a diverse set of discovery channels throughout the holiday lifecycle, AI is simply the latest technology helping travellers explore destinations, compare ideas and narrow their options.
Although AI is increasingly being used for destination inspiration and itinerary planning, travellers eventually reach a critical moment where inspiration must be reconciled with cost.
Customers may discover destinations through newer channels such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Instagram or TikTok, but ultimately, they still have budgets that need to be factored into decision-making. That means travel companies need to continue to invest in the breadth and depth of their inventory, ensuring customers can access competitive pricing and real-time availability regardless of how they were initially inspired.
As AI tools become more effective at surfacing niche destinations and lesser-known travel options, having access to a broad range of products becomes increasingly important. The more informed customers become before they arrive on site, the more companies need to be sure they can fulfil exactly what they're looking for.
Unlike some businesses that view AI as a competitive threat, On the Beach is approaching it as an additional route to market, viewing LLMs as simply another distribution channel that is growing in popularity.
The company's investments in modern architecture and integrations mean it has the foundations in place that will allow them to engage with LLMs and AI assistants as they continue to play a larger role in connecting customers with travel providers.
However, the real competitive advantage lies not in trying to compete with conversational search engines but in ensuring they optimise their operations in areas where LLMs cannot contribute for example; inventory management, packaging technology, pricing optimisation, fulfilment and customer protection and trust.
Much of the current discussion around AI focuses on the customer-facing experience, yet travel remains one of the most operationally complex sectors in digital commerce. Behind every package holiday sits a sophisticated network of suppliers, inventory systems, pricing engines, payment mechanisms and regulatory requirements.
While LLMs are becoming increasingly capable at orchestrating information, they still require robust underlying systems to fulfil customer intent. For On the Beach, that means managing billions of potential holiday combinations, maintaining real-time pricing accuracy, and ensuring customers can access competitive packages at scale.
While AI tools are proving useful during the discovery phase, there are still significant barriers to customers relying on them for high-value travel decisions. One of the most persistent challenges is accuracy.
Although AI can provide useful information about destinations and travel inspiration, hallucinations and inaccurate recommendations remain a concern, particularly when customers are making purchases worth thousands of pounds.
In travel, inaccurate information does not simply create inconvenience, it can fundamentally damage the customer experience. For example, if someone books what they believe is a quiet retreat and arrives to find something completely different, that's not just a technical issue. It can ruin an important experience.
Improving trust will require greater accuracy, more reliable recommendations and stronger connections to real-time travel inventory. If the information being surfaced beyond inspiration is incorrect it can cause huge issues for travellers and organisations alike.
One area where there are clear limitations in current AI experiences is pricing. Travel products are rarely simple purchases. Package holidays often combine flights, accommodation, baggage, transfers, insurance and numerous ancillary products into a single transaction.
While AI can help customers estimate costs during the inspiration phase, accurate package pricing requires access to live inventory and real-time supplier data. Customers remain highly price sensitive, particularly as economic pressures continue to influence purchasing decisions and approximate pricing may not be sufficient at the point when customers begin evaluating specific holidays. Customers need access to actual pricing. That's something current LLM experiences simply don't provide at the moment.
Travel purchasing decisions are rarely driven by price alone. The importance of trust, financial flexibility and customer protection are differentiators that extend beyond what AI interfaces can currently offer.
Low deposits, flexible payment options, package protection and support during disruption remain critical parts of the customer proposition. Equally, when travellers face delays, cancellations or unexpected events, they need access to real people capable of resolving issues and these areas are where companies should be focusing their efforts.
This combination of operational capability and customer reassurance continues to play an important role in conversion and in repeat purchase.
Likewise, the importance of foundational technology cannot be underestimated. Unlike many organisations that are now trying to retrofit AI capabilities onto legacy systems, On the Beach has spent years investing in modern microservices architecture and scalable platforms. As a result, the business is already well positioned to take advantage of emerging AI opportunities.
For On the Beach the challenge is less about whether travel brands are ready for AI and more about whether AI ecosystems are ready to support the complexity of travel. Everyone talks about whether businesses are AI-ready. The real question is whether AI platforms are ready to deliver the accuracy and seamless handoffs that customers need.
Many technology leaders still misunderstand what today's AI systems actually are. LLMs are powerful tools, but they are not artificial general intelligence. They excel at language, orchestration and information synthesis, yet they remain fundamentally different from the systems many people imagine when discussing the future of AI. These tools still have limitations and the practicalities of integrating then into your operations depend on organisations being able to understand this and identify where they can add value.
Misunderstanding in this area can lead organisations to prioritise highly visible AI initiatives while neglecting the underlying capabilities that create genuine competitive advantage. People sometimes assume AI is the answer to everything. What still matters is investing in the core technology and fulfilment capabilities.
As travel enters its next phase of digital evolution, companies should adopt a balanced approach. The future of search may continue to change as discovery channels continue to fragment and AI assistants become more influential in the customer journey. However, uncertainty around the full remit of these tools in the purchase journey and post- purchase journey remains high.
Rather than betting entirely on a single future, travel brands should focus on building flexible technology foundations that allow them to adapt regardless of how the market evolves. Regardless of how customers arrive on your site, the businesses that succeed will be those capable of fulfilling demand with accuracy, transparency and trust. Discovery may happen anywhere, but conversion still depends on delivering real value.
Kasia’s interview was conducted alongside sessions with travel industry professionals and input from 1,000 recent travel consumers as part of Leighton’s inaugural travel, aviation and hospitality report.
You can download the full report here.
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Leighton recently conducted independent research into the adoption of AI-powered travel discovery, exploring conversational search, agentic booking and the future of customer acquisition and conversion.
As part of our research, we spoke with Kasia Michalska, Chief Product and Technology Officer at On the Beach, about how AI is influencing traveller behaviour, the role of large language models (LLMs) in holiday planning, and why travel brands should focus on capabilities that cannot easily be replicated by emerging technologies.
For decades, travellers have sought inspiration from a wide range of sources; word of mouth from friends and family, travel magazines, search engines, social media, and review platforms have all played a role in shaping people’s holiday decisions. Now, AI and conversational search have joined that ecosystem.
AI is not fundamentally changing the customer need, but it’s increasingly becoming another mechanism through which customers make their decisions. There has always been a diverse set of discovery channels throughout the holiday lifecycle, AI is simply the latest technology helping travellers explore destinations, compare ideas and narrow their options.
Although AI is increasingly being used for destination inspiration and itinerary planning, travellers eventually reach a critical moment where inspiration must be reconciled with cost.
Customers may discover destinations through newer channels such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Instagram or TikTok, but ultimately, they still have budgets that need to be factored into decision-making. That means travel companies need to continue to invest in the breadth and depth of their inventory, ensuring customers can access competitive pricing and real-time availability regardless of how they were initially inspired.
As AI tools become more effective at surfacing niche destinations and lesser-known travel options, having access to a broad range of products becomes increasingly important. The more informed customers become before they arrive on site, the more companies need to be sure they can fulfil exactly what they're looking for.
Unlike some businesses that view AI as a competitive threat, On the Beach is approaching it as an additional route to market, viewing LLMs as simply another distribution channel that is growing in popularity.
The company's investments in modern architecture and integrations mean it has the foundations in place that will allow them to engage with LLMs and AI assistants as they continue to play a larger role in connecting customers with travel providers.
However, the real competitive advantage lies not in trying to compete with conversational search engines but in ensuring they optimise their operations in areas where LLMs cannot contribute for example; inventory management, packaging technology, pricing optimisation, fulfilment and customer protection and trust.
Much of the current discussion around AI focuses on the customer-facing experience, yet travel remains one of the most operationally complex sectors in digital commerce. Behind every package holiday sits a sophisticated network of suppliers, inventory systems, pricing engines, payment mechanisms and regulatory requirements.
While LLMs are becoming increasingly capable at orchestrating information, they still require robust underlying systems to fulfil customer intent. For On the Beach, that means managing billions of potential holiday combinations, maintaining real-time pricing accuracy, and ensuring customers can access competitive packages at scale.
While AI tools are proving useful during the discovery phase, there are still significant barriers to customers relying on them for high-value travel decisions. One of the most persistent challenges is accuracy.
Although AI can provide useful information about destinations and travel inspiration, hallucinations and inaccurate recommendations remain a concern, particularly when customers are making purchases worth thousands of pounds.
In travel, inaccurate information does not simply create inconvenience, it can fundamentally damage the customer experience. For example, if someone books what they believe is a quiet retreat and arrives to find something completely different, that's not just a technical issue. It can ruin an important experience.
Improving trust will require greater accuracy, more reliable recommendations and stronger connections to real-time travel inventory. If the information being surfaced beyond inspiration is incorrect it can cause huge issues for travellers and organisations alike.
One area where there are clear limitations in current AI experiences is pricing. Travel products are rarely simple purchases. Package holidays often combine flights, accommodation, baggage, transfers, insurance and numerous ancillary products into a single transaction.
While AI can help customers estimate costs during the inspiration phase, accurate package pricing requires access to live inventory and real-time supplier data. Customers remain highly price sensitive, particularly as economic pressures continue to influence purchasing decisions and approximate pricing may not be sufficient at the point when customers begin evaluating specific holidays. Customers need access to actual pricing. That's something current LLM experiences simply don't provide at the moment.
Travel purchasing decisions are rarely driven by price alone. The importance of trust, financial flexibility and customer protection are differentiators that extend beyond what AI interfaces can currently offer.
Low deposits, flexible payment options, package protection and support during disruption remain critical parts of the customer proposition. Equally, when travellers face delays, cancellations or unexpected events, they need access to real people capable of resolving issues and these areas are where companies should be focusing their efforts.
This combination of operational capability and customer reassurance continues to play an important role in conversion and in repeat purchase.
Likewise, the importance of foundational technology cannot be underestimated. Unlike many organisations that are now trying to retrofit AI capabilities onto legacy systems, On the Beach has spent years investing in modern microservices architecture and scalable platforms. As a result, the business is already well positioned to take advantage of emerging AI opportunities.
For On the Beach the challenge is less about whether travel brands are ready for AI and more about whether AI ecosystems are ready to support the complexity of travel. Everyone talks about whether businesses are AI-ready. The real question is whether AI platforms are ready to deliver the accuracy and seamless handoffs that customers need.
Many technology leaders still misunderstand what today's AI systems actually are. LLMs are powerful tools, but they are not artificial general intelligence. They excel at language, orchestration and information synthesis, yet they remain fundamentally different from the systems many people imagine when discussing the future of AI. These tools still have limitations and the practicalities of integrating then into your operations depend on organisations being able to understand this and identify where they can add value.
Misunderstanding in this area can lead organisations to prioritise highly visible AI initiatives while neglecting the underlying capabilities that create genuine competitive advantage. People sometimes assume AI is the answer to everything. What still matters is investing in the core technology and fulfilment capabilities.
As travel enters its next phase of digital evolution, companies should adopt a balanced approach. The future of search may continue to change as discovery channels continue to fragment and AI assistants become more influential in the customer journey. However, uncertainty around the full remit of these tools in the purchase journey and post- purchase journey remains high.
Rather than betting entirely on a single future, travel brands should focus on building flexible technology foundations that allow them to adapt regardless of how the market evolves. Regardless of how customers arrive on your site, the businesses that succeed will be those capable of fulfilling demand with accuracy, transparency and trust. Discovery may happen anywhere, but conversion still depends on delivering real value.
Kasia’s interview was conducted alongside sessions with travel industry professionals and input from 1,000 recent travel consumers as part of Leighton’s inaugural travel, aviation and hospitality report.
You can download the full report here.
Leighton recently conducted independent research into the adoption of AI-powered travel discovery, exploring conversational search, agentic booking and the future of customer acquisition and conversion.
As part of our research, we spoke with Kasia Michalska, Chief Product and Technology Officer at On the Beach, about how AI is influencing traveller behaviour, the role of large language models (LLMs) in holiday planning, and why travel brands should focus on capabilities that cannot easily be replicated by emerging technologies.
For decades, travellers have sought inspiration from a wide range of sources; word of mouth from friends and family, travel magazines, search engines, social media, and review platforms have all played a role in shaping people’s holiday decisions. Now, AI and conversational search have joined that ecosystem.
AI is not fundamentally changing the customer need, but it’s increasingly becoming another mechanism through which customers make their decisions. There has always been a diverse set of discovery channels throughout the holiday lifecycle, AI is simply the latest technology helping travellers explore destinations, compare ideas and narrow their options.
Although AI is increasingly being used for destination inspiration and itinerary planning, travellers eventually reach a critical moment where inspiration must be reconciled with cost.
Customers may discover destinations through newer channels such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Instagram or TikTok, but ultimately, they still have budgets that need to be factored into decision-making. That means travel companies need to continue to invest in the breadth and depth of their inventory, ensuring customers can access competitive pricing and real-time availability regardless of how they were initially inspired.
As AI tools become more effective at surfacing niche destinations and lesser-known travel options, having access to a broad range of products becomes increasingly important. The more informed customers become before they arrive on site, the more companies need to be sure they can fulfil exactly what they're looking for.
Unlike some businesses that view AI as a competitive threat, On the Beach is approaching it as an additional route to market, viewing LLMs as simply another distribution channel that is growing in popularity.
The company's investments in modern architecture and integrations mean it has the foundations in place that will allow them to engage with LLMs and AI assistants as they continue to play a larger role in connecting customers with travel providers.
However, the real competitive advantage lies not in trying to compete with conversational search engines but in ensuring they optimise their operations in areas where LLMs cannot contribute for example; inventory management, packaging technology, pricing optimisation, fulfilment and customer protection and trust.
Much of the current discussion around AI focuses on the customer-facing experience, yet travel remains one of the most operationally complex sectors in digital commerce. Behind every package holiday sits a sophisticated network of suppliers, inventory systems, pricing engines, payment mechanisms and regulatory requirements.
While LLMs are becoming increasingly capable at orchestrating information, they still require robust underlying systems to fulfil customer intent. For On the Beach, that means managing billions of potential holiday combinations, maintaining real-time pricing accuracy, and ensuring customers can access competitive packages at scale.
While AI tools are proving useful during the discovery phase, there are still significant barriers to customers relying on them for high-value travel decisions. One of the most persistent challenges is accuracy.
Although AI can provide useful information about destinations and travel inspiration, hallucinations and inaccurate recommendations remain a concern, particularly when customers are making purchases worth thousands of pounds.
In travel, inaccurate information does not simply create inconvenience, it can fundamentally damage the customer experience. For example, if someone books what they believe is a quiet retreat and arrives to find something completely different, that's not just a technical issue. It can ruin an important experience.
Improving trust will require greater accuracy, more reliable recommendations and stronger connections to real-time travel inventory. If the information being surfaced beyond inspiration is incorrect it can cause huge issues for travellers and organisations alike.
One area where there are clear limitations in current AI experiences is pricing. Travel products are rarely simple purchases. Package holidays often combine flights, accommodation, baggage, transfers, insurance and numerous ancillary products into a single transaction.
While AI can help customers estimate costs during the inspiration phase, accurate package pricing requires access to live inventory and real-time supplier data. Customers remain highly price sensitive, particularly as economic pressures continue to influence purchasing decisions and approximate pricing may not be sufficient at the point when customers begin evaluating specific holidays. Customers need access to actual pricing. That's something current LLM experiences simply don't provide at the moment.
Travel purchasing decisions are rarely driven by price alone. The importance of trust, financial flexibility and customer protection are differentiators that extend beyond what AI interfaces can currently offer.
Low deposits, flexible payment options, package protection and support during disruption remain critical parts of the customer proposition. Equally, when travellers face delays, cancellations or unexpected events, they need access to real people capable of resolving issues and these areas are where companies should be focusing their efforts.
This combination of operational capability and customer reassurance continues to play an important role in conversion and in repeat purchase.
Likewise, the importance of foundational technology cannot be underestimated. Unlike many organisations that are now trying to retrofit AI capabilities onto legacy systems, On the Beach has spent years investing in modern microservices architecture and scalable platforms. As a result, the business is already well positioned to take advantage of emerging AI opportunities.
For On the Beach the challenge is less about whether travel brands are ready for AI and more about whether AI ecosystems are ready to support the complexity of travel. Everyone talks about whether businesses are AI-ready. The real question is whether AI platforms are ready to deliver the accuracy and seamless handoffs that customers need.
Many technology leaders still misunderstand what today's AI systems actually are. LLMs are powerful tools, but they are not artificial general intelligence. They excel at language, orchestration and information synthesis, yet they remain fundamentally different from the systems many people imagine when discussing the future of AI. These tools still have limitations and the practicalities of integrating then into your operations depend on organisations being able to understand this and identify where they can add value.
Misunderstanding in this area can lead organisations to prioritise highly visible AI initiatives while neglecting the underlying capabilities that create genuine competitive advantage. People sometimes assume AI is the answer to everything. What still matters is investing in the core technology and fulfilment capabilities.
As travel enters its next phase of digital evolution, companies should adopt a balanced approach. The future of search may continue to change as discovery channels continue to fragment and AI assistants become more influential in the customer journey. However, uncertainty around the full remit of these tools in the purchase journey and post- purchase journey remains high.
Rather than betting entirely on a single future, travel brands should focus on building flexible technology foundations that allow them to adapt regardless of how the market evolves. Regardless of how customers arrive on your site, the businesses that succeed will be those capable of fulfilling demand with accuracy, transparency and trust. Discovery may happen anywhere, but conversion still depends on delivering real value.
Kasia’s interview was conducted alongside sessions with travel industry professionals and input from 1,000 recent travel consumers as part of Leighton’s inaugural travel, aviation and hospitality report.
You can download the full report here.
Leighton recently conducted independent research into the adoption of AI-powered travel discovery, exploring conversational search, agentic booking and the future of customer acquisition and conversion.
As part of our research, we spoke with Kasia Michalska, Chief Product and Technology Officer at On the Beach, about how AI is influencing traveller behaviour, the role of large language models (LLMs) in holiday planning, and why travel brands should focus on capabilities that cannot easily be replicated by emerging technologies.
For decades, travellers have sought inspiration from a wide range of sources; word of mouth from friends and family, travel magazines, search engines, social media, and review platforms have all played a role in shaping people’s holiday decisions. Now, AI and conversational search have joined that ecosystem.
AI is not fundamentally changing the customer need, but it’s increasingly becoming another mechanism through which customers make their decisions. There has always been a diverse set of discovery channels throughout the holiday lifecycle, AI is simply the latest technology helping travellers explore destinations, compare ideas and narrow their options.
Although AI is increasingly being used for destination inspiration and itinerary planning, travellers eventually reach a critical moment where inspiration must be reconciled with cost.
Customers may discover destinations through newer channels such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Instagram or TikTok, but ultimately, they still have budgets that need to be factored into decision-making. That means travel companies need to continue to invest in the breadth and depth of their inventory, ensuring customers can access competitive pricing and real-time availability regardless of how they were initially inspired.
As AI tools become more effective at surfacing niche destinations and lesser-known travel options, having access to a broad range of products becomes increasingly important. The more informed customers become before they arrive on site, the more companies need to be sure they can fulfil exactly what they're looking for.
Unlike some businesses that view AI as a competitive threat, On the Beach is approaching it as an additional route to market, viewing LLMs as simply another distribution channel that is growing in popularity.
The company's investments in modern architecture and integrations mean it has the foundations in place that will allow them to engage with LLMs and AI assistants as they continue to play a larger role in connecting customers with travel providers.
However, the real competitive advantage lies not in trying to compete with conversational search engines but in ensuring they optimise their operations in areas where LLMs cannot contribute for example; inventory management, packaging technology, pricing optimisation, fulfilment and customer protection and trust.
Much of the current discussion around AI focuses on the customer-facing experience, yet travel remains one of the most operationally complex sectors in digital commerce. Behind every package holiday sits a sophisticated network of suppliers, inventory systems, pricing engines, payment mechanisms and regulatory requirements.
While LLMs are becoming increasingly capable at orchestrating information, they still require robust underlying systems to fulfil customer intent. For On the Beach, that means managing billions of potential holiday combinations, maintaining real-time pricing accuracy, and ensuring customers can access competitive packages at scale.
While AI tools are proving useful during the discovery phase, there are still significant barriers to customers relying on them for high-value travel decisions. One of the most persistent challenges is accuracy.
Although AI can provide useful information about destinations and travel inspiration, hallucinations and inaccurate recommendations remain a concern, particularly when customers are making purchases worth thousands of pounds.
In travel, inaccurate information does not simply create inconvenience, it can fundamentally damage the customer experience. For example, if someone books what they believe is a quiet retreat and arrives to find something completely different, that's not just a technical issue. It can ruin an important experience.
Improving trust will require greater accuracy, more reliable recommendations and stronger connections to real-time travel inventory. If the information being surfaced beyond inspiration is incorrect it can cause huge issues for travellers and organisations alike.
One area where there are clear limitations in current AI experiences is pricing. Travel products are rarely simple purchases. Package holidays often combine flights, accommodation, baggage, transfers, insurance and numerous ancillary products into a single transaction.
While AI can help customers estimate costs during the inspiration phase, accurate package pricing requires access to live inventory and real-time supplier data. Customers remain highly price sensitive, particularly as economic pressures continue to influence purchasing decisions and approximate pricing may not be sufficient at the point when customers begin evaluating specific holidays. Customers need access to actual pricing. That's something current LLM experiences simply don't provide at the moment.
Travel purchasing decisions are rarely driven by price alone. The importance of trust, financial flexibility and customer protection are differentiators that extend beyond what AI interfaces can currently offer.
Low deposits, flexible payment options, package protection and support during disruption remain critical parts of the customer proposition. Equally, when travellers face delays, cancellations or unexpected events, they need access to real people capable of resolving issues and these areas are where companies should be focusing their efforts.
This combination of operational capability and customer reassurance continues to play an important role in conversion and in repeat purchase.
Likewise, the importance of foundational technology cannot be underestimated. Unlike many organisations that are now trying to retrofit AI capabilities onto legacy systems, On the Beach has spent years investing in modern microservices architecture and scalable platforms. As a result, the business is already well positioned to take advantage of emerging AI opportunities.
For On the Beach the challenge is less about whether travel brands are ready for AI and more about whether AI ecosystems are ready to support the complexity of travel. Everyone talks about whether businesses are AI-ready. The real question is whether AI platforms are ready to deliver the accuracy and seamless handoffs that customers need.
Many technology leaders still misunderstand what today's AI systems actually are. LLMs are powerful tools, but they are not artificial general intelligence. They excel at language, orchestration and information synthesis, yet they remain fundamentally different from the systems many people imagine when discussing the future of AI. These tools still have limitations and the practicalities of integrating then into your operations depend on organisations being able to understand this and identify where they can add value.
Misunderstanding in this area can lead organisations to prioritise highly visible AI initiatives while neglecting the underlying capabilities that create genuine competitive advantage. People sometimes assume AI is the answer to everything. What still matters is investing in the core technology and fulfilment capabilities.
As travel enters its next phase of digital evolution, companies should adopt a balanced approach. The future of search may continue to change as discovery channels continue to fragment and AI assistants become more influential in the customer journey. However, uncertainty around the full remit of these tools in the purchase journey and post- purchase journey remains high.
Rather than betting entirely on a single future, travel brands should focus on building flexible technology foundations that allow them to adapt regardless of how the market evolves. Regardless of how customers arrive on your site, the businesses that succeed will be those capable of fulfilling demand with accuracy, transparency and trust. Discovery may happen anywhere, but conversion still depends on delivering real value.
Kasia’s interview was conducted alongside sessions with travel industry professionals and input from 1,000 recent travel consumers as part of Leighton’s inaugural travel, aviation and hospitality report.
You can download the full report here.
